PITTSFORD, Vermont - Vermont State Police are identifying the pilot found dead Thursday at the scene of a plane crash as Norman L. Baker, an 89-year-old resident of Windsor who has been a pilot for most of his life.

Baker was found dead in the wreckage of a crash at around 11:30 a.m. Thursday in a wooded area near U.S. Route 7 in Pittsford, state police said.

He had set off the Pittsfield Municipal Airport on Wednesday afternoon en route to Middlebury, Vermont, which is approximately 110 miles north. The crash site is about 10 miles south of Middlebury.

A resident of the area discovered the crash scene while out walking. The resident was out investigating after learning of reports of a missing plane the day before, police said.

State and local police, and local fire departments had been searching the area the night before beginning at 10:30 p.m. but found nothing in the dark. State Police said a Vermont Army National Guard helicopter and several aircraft from the Vermont Civil Air Patrol resumed an aerial search Thursday morning when it was light, but again nothing was found.

According to police, a caller reported at around 5 p.m. Wednesday hearing a loud noise in the area of Sugar Hollow Road in Pittsford. The caller reported seeing a low-flying plane moments earlier before hearing the noise. The called did not report seeing a crash or any wreckage but expressed fear that a plane crashed.

Police report no other calls of a possible crash was reported, police canvassed the area around where the caller heard the noise but found nothing. A Civil Air Patrol search also revealed nothing. State Police also reported the FAA, Civil Air Patrol and Rutland Regional Airport had no unaccounted aircraft.

The search resumed hours later when the Massachusetts State Police contacted Vermont State Police at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to report Baker's plane had departed Pittsfield hours earlier and had not arrived in Middlebury.

It is unclear why the plane, a 4-passenger 1966 Cessna, crashed. Baker, who was alone in the plane, is reported to have made the same flight around 20 times before, police said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner is scheduled to perform an autopsy on Baker, police said.